


More Than This

by Suzume



Category: Breath of Fire IV
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-28
Updated: 2008-10-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 16:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/139457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzume/pseuds/Suzume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mami tends to the wounded stranger. Who he truly is may seem beyond her understanding, but what she feels about him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Than This

Mami had little time to give away to daydreams, but on slow days like this, she looked to the sky. It was blue, clear and cerulean. A pair of swallows darted southward toward the capital. She smiled. Things were still hard with villages like Sonne being counted on to help supply the battle weary troops still mobilized during the ceasefire, but it looked like this would be a good harvest. It could be a turn for the better.

"Ah! That be...?" she gasped. Her mouth continued to hang open foolishly as she stared as the huge, white, winged thing that was slipping from the sky like a shooting star. Could it be...a dragon? The mysterious creature vanished into the trees. She stared a moment longer, almost unable to believe her eyes.

"He mus' be 'urt," she realized. Why else would a dragon go crashing into the trees? There was no way she could ignore the plight of the poor thing after having witnessed its fall. Putting her hoe aside, Mami left the field and headed out into the woods.

It wasn't exactly easy to guess where the dragon had fallen. After some time she broke off of the main path and clambered over old rotting trunks and branches, pushing further and further into the forest's depths. She was beginning to tire after tripping on a protruding tree root and tearing her skirt on a bramble bush, so when she spotted a small clearing, she made up her mind to go just that much further before turning back. "Ah-!" There on the ground was no dragon, but a man, his unusual red and violet garments were torn and a deep, bleeding wound marred his chest. Other more minor wounds, the scratches of talons, and fiery burns marked his battered body. He was unconscious, strewn, over the underbrush with his long, white hair spread out behind him. The sight was a surprise, but she refused to be paralyzed and rushed forward to the wounded stranger's side. She untied her apron and hastily pressed it to his chest to staunch the bleeding. As the scarlet substance soaked into the thin layer of linen and stained her fingers, Mami looked on his face. He was so pale- he must've been exhausted. She looked up to see the sky, still serene above her. It was a fairly clean shot from the sky to this clearing. A torn leaf was stuck in the man's hair.

The bleeding was slowing. Her efforts didn't appear to have been entirely useless. Of course, there was still only so much she could do for him here. Mami rose to her feet and took a deep breath. She was by no means the strongest person in the village, but all the years of labor around the farm would serve her well now. Mami looked the mysterious man over, carefully trying to think of the best way to carry him. She had to be gentle because of his weakened state. It would've been best to carry him in her arms like a child, but that would be impossible. Working with all her might, she pulled the stranger onto her back. His feet dragged on the ground, but he was just a bit too big for her to do anything about it. With her face reddening from the strain, Mami took him home, one step at a time.

It was dark when she returned, but she welcomed the darkness as it provided cover for her to bring the man into her home unnoticed. She would do her best to hide him from the village. The gossip would fly thick and fast if they saw him. Sonne wasn't exactly a xenophilic place. And her landlord in particular wouldn't take kindly to seeing her with an unknown man.

"Aah, there ye are," she laid him down on the futon. The way his eyelids twitched, it seemed as though he must be dreaming. Mami was tired from the struggle to bring the stranger home, but she still couldn't rest- it wouldn't do to leave his wounds uncovered and unwashed. Stumbling slightly with fatigue, Mami carefully dabbed at his wounds, wincing in sympathy as he flinched from the sting of soap. "This be harder than I expected," she sighed, wiping sweat from her brow as she labored to tear a sheet into strips to use as bandages. After she had finished tending to his wounds, she sat down beside him, just to rest for a moment before cleaning up, but she quickly fell asleep.

"Oh my! I must've drifted off!" Mami gasped as soon as she saw the white-haired man. For a moment she had almost forgotten the events of the previous night or dismissed them all as a ridiculous dream. Yet there he was. She glanced to the window- the sun was already shining down, bright and yellow- she had overslept. Mami washed her face and straightened her clothes before rushing out the door. The stranger would have to heal on his own for a while- she had work to do.

It was strange to go along all day acting as though everything were normal. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the handsome man. At times, an odd sort of fear passed over her heart as she realized that there was still a chance he might not survive. He had to live. He would live. She silence the voice of doubt inside. She refused to entertain such awful thoughts. At lunchtime she went back home to see him still sleeping. With some difficulty, she managed to pour a dribble of water between his dry lips. "Well, tis good fer ye to rest up. You be needin' plenty of time to heal."

That evening, she worked to feed him some broth. " Got ta keep yer strength up," she told him cheerfully. Though it could be pleasant to speak to him, she felt slightly self-conscious addressing a person who could not respond. Of course, what was there to be gained from being self-conscious when no one could observe her? Mami smiled and reminded herself to be more relaxed.

On the second day, the stranger awoke. He sat up, realizing he was in an unknown location. Where was he? How had he gotten here? He seemed slightly bewildered, but he did not shrink from Mami's gaze. It looked as though he might try and stand. "I wouldn't be moin' too much if'n I was you... I d'no' thin' I've ever seen a person as bad off as you," Mami cautioned him. He glanced down at the bandages and gingerly touched his chest, but he listened to her warning. Still weak and drained, he watched Mami go about her tasks for a while before drifting back to sleep.

She was cooking when he awoke again. ...How much time had passed since he last opened his eyes? This time he wasn't alarmed though. He knew that he was in a tiny house somewhere, not in the hands of Yohm and those others who perverted the true nature of his empire. The peasant woman who seemed to be taking care of him was at the stove cooking. She didn't appear to notice yet that he had awoken. Fou-Lu silently appraised his physical condition. He wasn't fully recovered, but he was making good progress. ...It was strange, how fortunate he had been to be rescued from disaster, not once, but now twice!

The complexities of mortals continued to astound him. Clearly, the folk of his empire were divided in their sympathies... Or, of course, there was also the possibility that a common person such as currently housed him hadn't the slightest inkling of who he truly was. He scrutinized the woman closely as she stirred a pot a few times and then placed a lid on it.

She met his eyes with a quick glance, but seemed unperturbed by his stare. "You be restin' there now... I'll bring ye o'er some food jus' a second," she told him, going to pick up a bowl. A plume of gray smoke begin to rise out of a crack in the stove, puffing out through the area of the room. Smelling the smoke, the woman hurriedly dispersed the puff by waving her hands and moved something on the stove. "Oh my!" she apologized to her guest, "Sorry 'bout that... Got a little smokey there, didn't it? Me oven ain't it used to be, I'm afraid!"

"'Tis of no matter," I answered quietly.

Her eyes widened noticeably, but she tried to continue to act natural and pour of a scoopful of the steaming rice porridge into a bowl. After a moment of confusion, Fou-Lu realized that this was the first time she had heard him speak. ...Was there something unusual about his voice?

Mami knelt at his side with the bowl and spoon. "Open up yer mouth an' take a bite," she smiled at him.

"That is most unnecessary. I can eat on my own," he protested, struggling to sit up.

"Nah, not if'n ye can barely sit up, ye can't," Mami insisted. She scooped up a spoonful and reached toward his mouth.

"Didst thou not hear me?" Fou-Lu protested, turning his head away, "I shall proceed on mine own!"

She waited patiently for him to finish his complaint before tsking disappointedly at him, "Yer like a fussy bairn, ain't ye? I don't mean ye no harm, sir, please just allow it."

Weakening slightly, he turned back to face her. There was a simple sort of sincerity in her eyes. Perhaps he would have to swallow his pride and go along with this course of action. He lifted one hand to touch his aching, bandaged chest. She was right about his condition after all. "Fine. Proceed," he allowed her to feed him a spoonful of the warm rice porridge.

It actually wasn't that bad. Mami smiled shyly as she became aware that he wasn't merely tolerating her cooking, but that, plain as it was, he actually liked it. He had been used to other fare, the traveling rations of the army he led to unite the warring states of the empire, the sumptuous, but rare, banquets of victory... And much of the time, he did not eat at all.

"Ready fer some more?"

"Yes," he kept his answer short. Regardless of the damage it might've done to his dignity, he allowed the woman to feed him the rest of the bowl of porridge. He didn't bother to ask any questions about where he had ended up this time or what her name might be. He didn't see any use in it. After all, as soon as he was sufficiently healed, he would leave and continue his journey to the capital to put and end to this nonsense. While he slept, his other half was on the move. And not just him, but his pursuers as well. They were not fools. He doubted they would believe that last attack was the last of him. Without a body, who would be so haughty as to presume they'd caused the death of a god?

She didn't ask who he was either. He appreciated this respectful distance. If nothing else, she was wiser than his enemies in this regard. "I'm Mami," she told him. "If'n there's anything ye need, please jus' ask."

She rose, continuing to smile, carrying the bowl back to the table. She was waiting for a response, but she wouldn't be angry if it didn't come. She scooped more porridge into the other bowl and sat down at the table to eat it herself, trying not to look at him too long or too conspicuously. He had turned out to be just as mysterious awake as asleep. Mami had never met anyone who spoke like that before. It was rather...well, antiquated might be the right word for it.

By the time he finally spoke up, she was no longer expecting it. "Thank you," he said. He looked down as he murmured the words, not meeting her gaze. He did not seem accustomed to saying this sort of thing.

Mami did her best to act calm about the whole thing. "Yer welcome," she replied. "Please jus' take yer time gettin' well. An' when I'm out, you'd best stay inside. I dun wan' to see anyone givin' ye any trouble."

Fou-Lu nodded and slid down to lean his head back on the pillow. He would do as Mami said. Whatever would do the most to shorten his sojourn in this quiet place. He could not step off the stage of the ever-turning world for long.

When he slept again, he dreamed of Ryu.

The sun warmed his cheek and trickled over his eyelids like melted butter. His eyes flickered open. He felt stronger, better, ready to do something. Mami's warning had faded from his mind and after a few tentative stretches to test the condition of his weary muscles, Fou-Lu left the tiny house. It was a farming village, as he could've guessed. Peasant people of much the same stock as Mami worked in the fields and along the roadside. An old man fishing in the slow-moving water looked up at him from beneath the brim of a wide, woven hat, but after the initial sparkle of curiosity faded from his eyes, the man looked back down to his line and the water below him.

The air stirred just slightly. Actually, this was a familiar sight. After all, it had been people like this, had it not, who had summoned him in the first place. People who were poor, people without a protector, people who suffered the most from the wars that had ravaged the land.

He could see the foolishness of mortals before him, plain as day. How soon they had returned to a state so similar to the one in which he had left them! He walked along the meandering dirt path, looking at the men and women at work. He wondered idly where Mami was amidst all these plots of earth.

He looked up to see a scowling man in his path, blocking his way further into the village. "Hey! Yer that fella that Mami's been takin' care of, ain'tcha?" the sour-looking fellow challenged him.

Fou-Lu did not answer him. He could see Mami hurrying up the path behind the brown-haired man, who continued to harangue him with questions, "Who are ya? Where d'ya come from, eh? We don't take kindly t'strangers 'ere..." he threatened.

Clearly, this man had no idea whom he was addressing with his biting words. "Ryong? Ryong!" Mami called as she approached, coming to stop behind the other man.

At first Fou-Lu could not tell whom she was speaking to. He assumed "Ryong" must be this ill-mannered man, however, his accuser did not turn around. But when she continued talking, it became clear that she meant him. "I thought I tol' ye to stay in th' house an' rest! Ye should not be walkin' about like this!" she scolded him before turning to the other man, "This 'ere be my cousin," she gestured toward Fou-Lu. "His name's Ryong. He was at Kyoin an' got 'urt, see? He came back 'ere an' I been takin' care o' 'im."

The other man didn't seem ready to buy this story. For his part, Fou-Lu was caught between confusion and amusement at the need to give him a cover story and what the story was.

"'E'll be stayin' with me 'til 'e's better," Mami continued, "He, uh, got hit on the 'ead, so if'n he asks any funny questions, jus' be nice and answer them, okay?" She slipped past him to stand by Fou-Lu, taking his hand, "Come on, Ryong... Let's go," she pulled him back toward the house. The suspicious man watched them depart for a few moments. He still appeared unconvinced by Mami's story, but after a minute or two more, he realized he had better things to do and left them alone.

"Oh boy..." Mami sighed once they had entered the house. "I di' no' mean for the landlord t'fin' out about you..."

"There wilt be repercussions?" Fou-Lu tipped his head thoughtfully. He could not guess the consequences on his own, but the matter certainly did not seem resolved once and for all.

"Well..." she thought about it thoroughly, "It'll prob'ly be fine, long as we keep pretendin' ye be m' cousin..." The landlord might have had his eye on her, but how could he object to the presence of a relative in her house? It was not as if she were imposing on him in any way by having this stranger- Ryong- here. She would do her best to stay positive. Senseless worrying never did anyone any good. "Ye should be worryin' more about yerself than me!" she reminded him, "Yer wound ain't fully healed yet! Ye shouldn't be walkin' around in th' first place!"

He hadn't truly done anything wrong, but Fou-Lu still felt chastised. "Forgive me." He usually mere did whatever suited him to carry out his goals. Yet here he was, worrying about Mami and apologetic over having caused her any trouble.

She looked up into his serious eyes. "Of course," she murmured. Ryong...Ryong wasn't anything like the landlord. As far as Mami could tell, he didn't have any ulterior motives in mind when he was kind to her. He sounded a little hurt, and the feeling was genuine. Actually, Ryong was unlike many men she had met. He was a gentleman. His heart was as beautiful as his face.

"What wouldst thou have us do?" he inquired, sitting down slowly on the futon. From the cautious way he moved, it was clear that he still felt at least some pain.

"I can tell it's a bit 'ard fer ye, but please, jus' take it easy and relax." Fou-Lu didn't resent the straight talk. He could tell from the slight crease in her brow that Mami wouldn't have asked him to do it if she hadn't felt it was the best course of action for him now. "I won't be out fer long...an' when I'm back, we can talk...Ryong," she added. She sounded sympathetic.

After fussing with him for a while longer, Mami left, to finish whatever task she had left undone to come to his defense. Fou-Lu watched the sun beams filter through the window and cast shadows of the few items that filled the little house. He wished there was something he could do for her to show his appreciation. It could not be particularly easy for someone in this situation to expend extra time and energy feeding and caring for a stranger. And Mami did not do the bare minimum for him. She labored over all her work with love. ...She was so gentle.

Staring at the play of light and shadow, Fou-Lu began to daydream, and this time, he did not think of Ryu, but of Mami.

When she returned to her home, they carried on a bit of stilted conversation before falling into an awkward silence. Mami sat at the table and twisted the corner of her apron between her fingers and looked away shyly as she self-consciously tried to explain her actions from earlier that day. "Callin' you m' cousin was the first thing I thought of..."

Fou-Lu did not interject. He had always been a quiet individual. Mami worked her way through her tangled thoughts one small step at a time, thinking through everything she had seen since that day the white creature crashed into the forest. Ryong had not been forthcoming with any further explanations, but she lacked the nerve to ask him. And anyway, it seemed somewhat impolite. She looked over at him. "But ye really be..."

She quickly changed her mind. "Ne'er mind...Forget I asked." She pursed her lips tightly.

She was so close to the truth. At first, he didn't know exactly what to say, but after a moment of introspection, Fou-Lu began to speak, softly at first, but gradually gaining strength as the story formed, one word at a time, "Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there came to this earth a god named Fou-Lu."

Mami released the edge of her apron, but did not look at her mysterious guest.

"Many were the nations of the world then, and they didst make terrible war upon each other. The people of those lands prayed to Fou-Lu, that he might create for them a world at peace, a world with no war."

She stood up, but Fou-Lu did not paused his narrative. As he continued, she walked slowly to his side.

"Fou-Lu heard their plea, and gathered together the nations, and thus didst he forge them into an empire. And thus didst Fou-Lu become the First Emperor. But then, after having used his powers to achieve this feat, he fell into a deep slumber. For Fou-Lu was not complete...Not whole." As he spoke further, he became more and more impassioned, feeling a fire begin to burn inside as he merely considered his subject. "However, even as he dreamed, Fou-Lu realized a terrible truth. Even were he complete, he wouldst not be able to fulfill all the people's desires! Indeed. And why not? For people are..."

"Umm...!" Mami stopped the building eruption of his anger. She stood at his side, looking down at him very intently. "I'm sorry... I be just a simple farmer... I dunno ken what ye be saying..." she spoke quietly, afraid of the violent power she heard in his speech, "But..." she trailed off, sitting down slowly at his side.

"But I canno' stand t' see ye look so sad..." she put her arms around him, pulling his head close to her chest, as though to comfort a crying child.

He pushed away from this grasp and exchanging one kind of love for another, took her in his arms and kissed her.


End file.
